Heart Beats
by A. Zap
Summary: Stan ends up landing in the hospital, and it shakes the entire family to its core. Changes will be made, but everything will be alright - probably. Except things haven't been alright for a long time as Ford actually takes a look at what his brother's been through over the years.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gravity Falls or its characters. All the kudos to Alex Hirsch for that privelege.**

* * *

Heart Beats

 _Sweet Moses, I am getting way too old for this kind of crap_ , Stan couldn't help but think.

Mabel yelped and clutched tighter to his neck as he leapt over the fallen tree in their way. He ducked down low though as… the whatever it was that was chasing them took a swipe at them.

"Come on, come on." Dipper muttered to himself as he flipped through one of his brother's journals from his position tucked under his arm. Stan tried to ignore it and concentrated on getting back to the Shack as quickly as possible.

You know, Stan may have loved his brother (though he would never admit it to his face given how they were currently at odds), but in all seriousness, those journals were really more trouble than they were worth.

Take today for instant. The kids had gone off on some sort of adventure as per usual. Stan knew that they could really handle themselves, so he hadn't been too worried. He had gone along with conducting his tours and he had known that the kids would be back by supper at the latest, chatting about some sort of lesson they had learned while encountering the weirdness of either the town or forest.

And then, right in the middle of a tour, he had heard the sound of screaming coming from the forest. He'd known in an instant the source of the terrified sound.

Stan didn't even hesitate. He rushed off in the direction of the screams, directing the tourists into the shop with a yell over his shoulder. He knew Wendy was talented enough to milk them for what they worth, and Soos would make sure to make sure none of them got away. Mabel and Dipper were his priority though, and he had to get them _now_.

He guessed he was lucky to have such good employees that he could leave them at it.

It hadn't taken the conman long to reach where the kids were fleeing the monster that was now chasing them all. He had no clue what it was. It looked like some sort of mix between a giant weasel with some sort of lizard-like claws. Still, it had taken a shot at Mabel who had been slightly slower than her brother.

Yeah, as if Stan was about to let that happen.

He'd managed to slide in between his niblings and the thing, throwing a left hook. Stan felt a small bit of satisfaction as he got it right in the snout. It stumbled back a bit which gave him the perfect opportunity to scoop up the kids and get the heck out of dodge. He knew if he could get to the Shack then at the very least he could grab a bat to beat the thing up.

Which, of course, lead them right back here.

Stan couldn't remember having to deal so much with the supernatural side of Gravity Falls until the kids showed up. And he was getting way too old to deal with this stuff.

Anyway.

Stan maneuvered around a copse of trees, beginning to recognize the scenery as what he passed when doing golf cart tours.

"Dipper, anything?" Mabel asked desperately.

"Uh, uh," he was still frantically skimming the pages. Stan didn't really want to bring up the possibility that nothing might be in there. After all, the records in Ford's journals were 30 years old. "I got nothing!" Dipper said.

"Great." Stan grunted. He ignored the pain building in his chest that was probably from all of this running. _Ugh, why do all these paranormal things insist on chasing others? Can't they just growl or whatever and let whoever invaded their space get away?_ "What'd you do to anger it anyway?"

"Uh…" Neither twin would look him in the eye, which just spoke of guilt.

He really needed to teach them how to successfully bluff. Mabel had a good start on it, but she could only do it during a card game.

"Whatever. Just tell me when we're done getting chased by this thing." Stan put on a burst of speed. After all, they were in the home stretch.

The creature seemed to sense this though and let out a ferocious growl. With a glance, Stan peeked back and saw its muscles bunching up in the back. It was going to make a final leap.

Just as the thing jumped, Stan ducked behind a tree. The creature hit the other side causing the entire tree to shudder and a painful groan to come from the beast. Stan smirked as he finished the trek out of the woods, only putting down the kids after they were out of the tree line.

"Wow! Nice one, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel beamed at him, pumping her arms up in victory.

"Thanks, sweetie." Stan returned the smile, trying to catch his breath. It shouldn't be this hard. "So what did you do?"

"Well," Dipper sheepishly avoided his look as they headed back towards the Shack, "we were actually going to see if we could find this really old dragon nest that was in the journal. It had been abandoned for quite a while even when this entry was written." He tried to reassure Stan when he got on the receiving end of a narrow glance.

"Yeah, but instead we found that thing!" Mabel said brightly.

"That's not really a good thing." Stan commented, absently rubbing his chest to try to make the persistent pressure go away. He followed after them as they made their way up the porch steps. "Just for this, you two are pulling extra hours in the shop tomorrow."

"Grunkle Stan!" They simultaneously whined, turning around to face him…

Just as the discomfort turned to pain, the sudden switch causing Stan to stumble into and clutch at the doorway. His other hand tightened on his chest.

"Grunkle Stan?"

Stan tried to figure out what was wrong. It was getting harder to breathe than ever and he could practically hear his heart pounding in his ears, but it sounded off…

"Stan?!"

Combined with the pain in his chest, that could only mean… Oh.

Stan really hoped his brain-to-mouth filter was working because the twins' parents would go off on him if they learned the curse words swirling in his mind from him.

"Grunkle Stan?! C'mon, answer me!"

He blinked and finally noticed both of the niblings had come closer. Mabel had grasped his arm folded up to his chest and was looking up at him with wide, frightened eyes. Dipper stood at his side and his eyes darted all over him, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Get Soos." Stan managed to get out through gritted teeth. He clenched the door's frame harder and trying to ignore the tremble in his hand.

"What?" They glanced at each other, though Mabel began to move back into the door.

"Get Soos." He repeated as the pain reached a crescendo. "And call an ambulance." His grip on the doorway failed.

"Grunkle Stan!"

The last thing Stan noticed as he slumped to the floor and unconsciousness was Mabel running towards the phone while yelling for Soos and Dipper hurriedly trying to catch him as he fell. He knew that he could leave it to those two as everything faded out.

* * *

 _AN: So I first got this idea when I saw The Stanchurian Candidate last year when Stan was talking a lot about how he was going to die some day and he was getting old. I was also kind of mad at Ford and wanted him to show some care for his brother because he was really blase in that episode. I ended up getting plenty of that in the finale but I figured I'd finally write this anyway._

 _Originally posted on my Tumblr and now I'm finally posting it here._


	2. Chapter 2

Ford scowled as he sorted through the scraps left over from the portal's destruction. He'd been hoping to find something that might allow him to make a more secure container for the Rift, but so far there was nothing.

A slight movement caught Ford's attention from the corner of his eye. It was coming from the security monitor that showed the area outside of the house. There seemed to be some sort of commotion going on out there, so he walked over to check out what was –

Why was there an ambulance here?

Ford immediately turned on his heel and hurried to the elevator. One of the bad things about being a genius was that his mind ran a mile a minute and could therefore think up a hundred different scenarios in no time. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, especially in Gravity Falls.

Maybe it was just that one of Stan's customers had gotten a bit too freaked out, though he didn't see how that was really possible with his ridiculous displays.

More worryingly, Ford knew that Dipper had borrowed one of the journals with plans to go exploring with Mabel today. If anything had happened to them because of his journals…

Stanley would kill him.

And he would let him.

As he was lifted up, it occurred to Ford that there might be people still in the shop that would be able to see the secret entrance to his lab. It would also be surprising to see another so-called "Mr. Mystery" appear. However, he couldn't let that bother him now.

Ford burst out from behind the vending machine, dully noting that the shop was abandoned. He paid it no mind as he rushed out.

To his immediate relief, Dipper and Mabel stood on the porch just outside next to Stan's cashier girl, so they were safe. But there was obviously something wrong still. Mabel clutched onto Dipper's arm tightly, as if afraid he would disappear at any point. Dipper meanwhile was wringing his hand in his anxiety. Both were watching the ambulance with desperate eyes.

"Kids!" Both of them slowly turned to look at him, as if reluctant to let their gaze leave the scene before them. "What's going on? Are you okay?" As he got closer, Ford gave them a better onceover, but he could see nothing wrong with them besides their distress.

"Are _we_ okay?" Dipper shot him an incredulous look.

"Grunkle Ford…" Tears were welling up in Mabel's eyes, and the name was a huge red flag. She only called him Grunkle when something was going terribly wrong or she was super excited about something. This was most definitely not a case of the latter.

Wendy placed a comforting hand on each of their shoulders before glancing up at Ford. Of all of the regulars to come around, she was the one he had interacted with the least. Still, she looked up at him with a combination of compassion and sorrow.

Before he could ask again what was going on, Soos jogged over from the ambulance. "Okay, dudes, I'm going to ride with them." He looked at Wendy. "How much experience do you have driving?"

She straightened. "Stan's given me a few basic lessons."

"Do you have your written excuse for not having a license?"

"Always."

"Okay." Soos handed her the keys for his truck. "You can bring the little dudes if they want to come. And you won't have to hotwire it."

"What is going on?" Ford had no clue what was going on and he didn't like it.

Soos gave him the same look Wendy had. "I've gotta go." He hurried back and the ambulance shut the doors behind him, taking off.

Before he could protest at the continued lack of information, Ford felt a small hand grab his trench coat. He looked down to see Mabel had grabbed onto him.

"Grunkle Ford…" She sniffed and wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "Grunkle Stan…" She gave a small sob.

It was then that Ford realized that his brother was conspicuously absent. He looked around, but there were no signs of him anywhere, and given that Soos had traveled in the ambulance…

His mind quickly put the pieces together. And with it came a dawning sense of horror.

"What happened to Stanley?" He looked between the three of them, hoping for an explanation.

"I don't know…" Dipper's hand came up as he clutched at his head. "We had just gotten away from this…thing we found in the forest and were walking into the Shack. He just… collapsed."

"And he said to call for an ambulance, so you know it's serious!" Mabel said.

"Yeah, I mean, he didn't even go to a doctor when you blinded him earlier this summer, right?" Wendy glanced back and forth between the younger twins and they both nodded. However, neither of their expressions lightened. She changed the subject. "Hey, want to go to the hospital?"

The two kids nodded and quickly darted over to Soos's truck. Wendy went to follow them but she paused and looked over at Ford.

"You coming?" She raised an eyebrow.

Ford blinked for a moment. He had rarely gone into town even before he had fallen into the portal, and he hadn't even remembered that there actually was a small hospital here. Of course, since getting back, he hadn't gone to town because it would be a bit odd for there to be both him and Stan walking around. But in these circumstances…

"Of course." He made his way to the vehicle as well.

"Do you want to drive?" Wendy offered. "After all, I've only gotten a few lessons and I got them from _Stan_."

"Uh," Ford thought about it a moment, "Huh. When was the last time I drove something remotely like an Earth vehicle?" He asked, more to himself than the redhead next to him.

"I'm driving." Wendy hurried ahead of him and slid into the driver's seat.

Ford followed after and luckily the kids had left him the passenger's seat in the front. As Wendy started the truck up, he tried to go over what could have made Stan collapse, but he needed more information.

"Kids," he turned around to face them, "you said that you had gotten away from something that I assumed chased you." They both nodded. "What was it?"

"I don't know." Dipper held up the journal. "There wasn't anything about it in here, and I didn't recognize it as any standard paranormal being."

"It looked like a giant weasel." Mabel put in, and she raised her hands in a claw-like motion, "except it had these lizardy-type claws that were kinda freaky."

Ford clutched the door handle as Wendy sped over a few potholes. "That sounds like an ichneumon." He muttered and frowned. After all, something like that couldn't have done anything to hurt his brother unless it literally got his claws on him.

"A what?" Though he was obviously still worried, Dipper did perk up a bit at the prospect of learning something new.

"An ichneumon is a weasel like creature known for killing dragons. Sometimes they also take over dragon nests and make it their own in order to lure more in." Ford shook his head. "There weren't any here 30 years ago, but it should have occurred to me that that could have changed in the meantime. I'm sorry you were put in danger."

"It's not your fault." Mabel tried to reassure him and patted his shoulder. Then, her face fell and she turned towards the window. "Do you think Grunkle Stan will be okay?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"Of course. Stanley's always fine." Ford attempted to return the favor and reassure the twins, but a treacherous voice in the back of his mind whispered, _That's what you always think and at the very least, it wasn't true 30 years ago, now was it…_

He shook it off. The kids didn't need that kind of negativity.

Wendy nodded at his words. "You guys know better than anyone how much it takes for Mr. Pines to get knocked down! And even then, he always gets right back up." She smiled at them in the rearview mirror, which did not help her driving.

The kids settled back at their reassurances, but Wendy and Ford shared a brief look before the teenager turned her attention back to the road.

They both had a feeling that it wasn't going to be that simple.

* * *

 _AN: More of a filler chapter, but it's needed to advance the plot._


	3. Chapter 3

Soos was in the waiting room when they got to the hospital. They had entered in a rush, but slowed down at the sight of him sitting quietly but wringing his hands.

"Any news?" Wendy asked as they approached him.

Soos shook his head sadly. "No, not really." He paused a bit and Ford could tell he was holding something back.

"What is it?" He pressed, because if there was any sort of information available regarding his brother's condition, he of all people had a right to know it.

Soos looked at each of them before speaking. "The paramedics said it was a heart attack."

Silence.

All of them stared at Soos, eyes wide. The words just weren't quite computing for Ford.

"What?" Mabel squeaked out. The blood had drained from her face. Dipper seemed to be in a similar state, except there was a tinge of green to his complexion.

After all, even kids could guess how serious that condition was.

"Yeah." Soos glanced over at the entrance to the rest of the hospital.

"But, how?" Ford stuttered out. "We're only 58! That's way too young. After all, I was once told by an unreliable source that I wouldn't even have a heart attack until I'm 92."

"Dude, you guys are only 58?" Wendy looked over at him with a shocked expression. "I thought you were, like, 80!"

"What?"

"Grunkle Stan told me that he was almost 70." Mabel whispered.

Ford couldn't believe this. Stan had lied about their age and… Well, actually he could believe it.

Ford pinched the bridge of his nose. "Stanley, normally when people lie about their age, they tell people that they're younger." He muttered mostly to himself.

"Yeah, but younger people don't get senior discounts." Soos chipped in.

Well, that explained that.

"What sort of unreliable source would tell you that anyway?" Dipper narrowed his eyes at him in suspicion.

"By unreliable, I mean he's a known liar and manipulator, but at the same time, he takes great joy in people's suffering so he tends to be incredibly accurate with these sorts of predictions." Ford adjusted his glasses, uncomfortable with the attention being cast upon that particular part of his life.

Besides, Stan was the one in trouble right now.

All of them looked to the doors as someone walked through. Ford studied the new arrival. It was a woman who looked as if she was perhaps a few years older than him, a few traces of black in her mostly gray hair. She was obviously a doctor due to her garb and there were stern, no-nonsense lines in her face from the hard profession. However, there was still a kind gleam in her eye as she looked up from the clipboard in her hands.

"Ah, you must be here for Mr. Pines." She looked over at Soos. "It's odd that for once you didn't have to practically drag him here, Mr. Ramirez." There was a knowing spark in her eye.

"Yeah, he seemed to know what was going on." Soos tried to crack a smile but ultimately failed.

"Well," she shrugged, "I guess he does have a sense of self-preservation somewhere." She looked down at her clipboard. "Let's see, Miss Corduroy, Miss Pines, nice to see you again. And you're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you, younger Mr. Pines." Dipper avoided her gaze and rubbed his arm nervously. "Ever going to tell me what really caused those injuries before?"

Dipper gave a nervous laugh and Ford wondered what could have brought the boy to visit the hospital. However, Dipper expertly avoided her narrowed gaze and she finally sighed.

"You are so like your great-uncle." With that, she finally turned towards Ford and blinked.

Ford stiffened not knowing what her reaction would be, especially given his apparent relation to Stan and the fact that she thought his brother was him.

Her reaction wasn't what he was expecting.

"Ah, you must be the original Stanford who lived here. Nice to see you back, though I don't think we ever had the pleasure of meeting." The doctor held out a hand in greeting. "I'm Vera Strange, your brother's doctor."

Everyone's jaw dropped and they all stared at her.

No one had ever seemed to figure out that Stanley was not Stanford, but this doctor apparently had. Ford had thought that only those at the Shack had known, mostly because they had been there or been told the truth as a matter of convenience. So how was this…

"How? Wha-?" Ford completely forgot the situation at hand in light of this news.

Dr. Strange lifted an eyebrow as she lowered her hand, probably sensing that he wasn't going to shake it. "Do you really think I'm so incompetent at my job that I wouldn't notice that my patient has five fingers instead of the six he's supposed to have. And there are no signs of having said fingers removed."

Ah. That made a lot of sense. That was, after all, the cardinal difference that could be a dead giveaway. It was more surprising that no one else had caught that detail.

"So you're Stanford Filbrick Pines." She pointed at Ford and then gestured behind her, "And my patient back there is Stanley Cassandra 'Stanford' Pines." She raised her hands to make quotes around Ford's name within Stan's.

"His middle name is Cassandra?" Soos whispered in slight awe, but Ford ignored that and the twins' giggles at his brother's middle name.

"You knew all along?" Ford could only stare at her. "And you never told anyone?"

"Eh." Strange shrugged. "Mr. Pines knew that I knew and we just never talked about it. Luckily, I was able to get ahold of his records since the first time he was under my care was before he 'died.'" She was using the quotation marks again. "Besides, my job is to make people better, not make things harder for them.

"Anywho, let's get back to the reason we're all here." Strange looked back down at her clipboard.

The mood immediately sobered. Ford noticed the youngsters exchanging worried glances.

"Is it alright that we kinda delayed in talking here?" Wendy asked, and Ford could admit that he had never seen the usually chill teenager look so anxious.

"It's okay; he's unconscious so it's not like he's going to escape any time soon."

Ford tried to quell the alarm at her words.

"Why would he try to escape?" He knew that Stan had always hated going to the doctor's, but that seemed a bit extreme.

Both the doctor, Soos, and Wendy seemed to avoid looking at him. "Habit?" The doctor finally offered, again shrugging. "He seems to have the philosophy that if he can walk, he's well enough to leave. Or more likely escape as usually he's technically not well enough to actually be given permission to leave."

 _Or to avoid paying hospital bills without insurance._ Thinking back on the fact that Stan had been homeless once, that made way too much sense to Ford. He swallowed down the sudden uncomfortable feeling he had and focused on the current issue.

"So my brother?" He asked. "Did he really have a heart attack?" The thought still seemed so incredibly foreign to him. People their age usually didn't have to deal with those.

"Yes." She nodded in confirmation. "Mr. Pines did indeed have a heart attack. We're currently looking into the cause as it appears there isn't any type of blockage that normally acts as the trigger." She flipped through some of the pages. "He'll be all right though as long as he gets some rest. He'll probably have to make some changes though after going home."

"He's not going to like that." Wendy muttered, her face twisting up. Soos and the kids nodded at her comment.

"No, he won't, but he'll do it while complaining all the way if he knows what's good for him." Dr. Strange agreed.

"Why, since he knows it's best for his health?" Ford had to ask. After all, from the little he had seen about his brother's habits, it didn't seem like his health was his highest priority.

"No, because he knows that if he doesn't, he'll have to deal with me." She said dryly, a smirk twitching at the corners of her mouth. She gave all of them a look over. "A couple of you can visit at a time if you want to, but, like I said, he's asleep."

"I'll go." All five of them said it at the same time. Quick looks were exchanged among them. After all, they couldn't all go at once.

Wendy broke first and sighed. "Hey, how about you two just sit tight with me for a moment?" She put a hand on each of the twins' shoulders. "Let Soos and Dr. Pines check on him real quick and then we can go in."

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other. Both of them were tense and obviously reluctant, but slowly they nodded and sat back down, Mabel clutching Dipper's hand.

Wendy shot Ford a look that told him not to waste this opportunity and he nodded his thanks. He had thought he'd been keeping his cool, but she had obviously picked up on his anxiety and how he didn't want the kids to see Stan just yet. Given his brother's condition, he had no clue how he would actually look and didn't want the kids to freak out over the potential amount of equipment he'd have.

"Alright then. Follow me." Dr. Strange ordered as she led Ford and Soos into the hallway towards the rooms.

* * *

AN: I am very proud of the doctor's name (do you hear the pun?), and yes, she is the mother of Tad Strange. She doesn't know how he turned out so normal either.


	4. Chapter 4

Ford gave Strange a side eye as they walked through the hall. "So how long have you known my brother?"

"Hmm." She tilted her head back in thought. "The first time was about 30 years ago back when the Shack was the Murder Hut and he had just started giving tours."

"Murder Hut?" Ford knew that his brother had a terrible naming sense, but that seemed particularly bad.

"Yeah, people called it that anyway, so I guess he just capitalized on that." She shrugged. "Anyway, he collapsed during a tour from a severe infection."

That gave Ford pause. Something prickled at the back of his mind, and he didn't like it. "An infection?" He hesitantly asked.

"Yes, he had this bad burn, a brand, on his right shoulder." She shuddered a bit. "Hate to know how exactly he got that. It looked like he had tried to treat it himself, but it wasn't really enough."

Ford knew exactly how Stan had gotten that burn. He tried to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach.

"Here we are. Like I said, he's asleep right now." Dr. Strange opened the door to the room, and both Soos and Ford followed her in.

Ford could only really stare at the sight before him. It wasn't like Stan looked on the verge of death, but…

Ford had never seen his brother so still. Stan had a larger than life personality, always had, and it filled up whatever space he was in. He always was on the move, even in his sleep. But right now, he just seemed…

Vulnerable.

Stan hadn't seemed like that since the night he was kicked out.

Ford really didn't like it.

"See? We'll find out the cause of the heart attack and he'll be right as rain." Dr. Strange reassured him.

Soos breathed a sigh of relief, but Ford wasn't as comforted.

Stan had commented on them getting old, but this was the first time it had really hit him that they weren't as young as they were. Plus, for some reason, Stan seemed to have aged a lot more than he had.

"I guess." Ford commented, the beeping of the heart monitor at least telling him that his brother was okay for now.

* * *

Wendy sighed and sat back. This whole situation was messed up; she couldn't believe that Stan had had a heart attack. For as long as she had known him, Stan had looked the way he did now, so he'd always been old.

But now she knew that while he was old, he was not as old as she had always thought he was. And given that he had always been there since she had first come to the Shack as a brat, seeing him down and out for the count like this was just bizarre.

It was scary.

It's not like this was the first time she'd been in this sort of situation with Stan, but that didn't make it any less scary.

She clamped down on those feelings though as she glanced over at Dipper and Mabel. They weren't handling things well. Mabel was clutching her brother's hand so tight that her knuckles were white and her other hand fiddled with the bottom of her sweater, which ironically had a giant heart in the center. Dipper, on the other hand, had pulled his knees up and was resting his head on them. His jaw was clenched though as he stared into the middle distance.

Even if she was only fifteen, she was the closest thing they had to an adult in the room, so it was up to her to turn this around.

Wendy tried to break the silence. "So – "

"Is it our fault?" Mabel interjected softly, looking down at her shoes.

"What?" Wendy jolted a bit, surprised, "No!" She was definitely sure of that.

"But he was saving us!" Dipper legs swung down as he swiveled to face her. "And on TV, half the time a person has a heart attack, it's because they've done a lot of hard exercise!"

"Dude, less than a week ago, Stan was climbing up scaffolding and punching eagles. I don't think running away from some monster while carrying you guys is any harder than that and he didn't have a heart attack then." Wendy tried to rationalize.

"But what if it was, like, the final straw or something?" Mabel looked back up. It was painful to see her like this as she was normally the most optimistic person Wendy knew.

"I don't think so." Wendy got up so she could put a reassuring hand on each of their shoulders. "I'll bet it'll turn out to just be some sort of freaky thing, not anyone's fault in particular. It'll be fine, guys."

"What if he dies?" Dipper asked, a stricken expression on his face. As the words left his mouth, Mabel's face mirrored his as if the possibility hadn't occurred to her before then.

Wendy's heartbeat sped up at the thought. Because heart attacks were serious and Stan…

 _No._ She told herself, willing her heart to calm as she pulled the twins in close for a hug. "It'll be fine." Wendy reiterated, lining her voice with steel because it would be. "Stan's way too stubborn to die, just you see."

If not for himself, because she had never really seen much in terms of self-preservation outside of avoiding the law, he would not die just for these kids. These kids who had such an impact on him before he had gotten to really know them. A month before they came, when he realized what he had agreed to, he had freaked out saying he had no idea how to handle children and he should just let them stay with their parents.

She and Soos had exchanged an almost endearing look before reassuring him that things would be fine. After all, Stan had taken both of them under his wing when they were the twins' age. She remembered just being surprised because Stan never showed his worries like that.

Stan would die if that's what it took to protect these kids, Wendy knew. He'd also live if that's what it took to protect their innocence now. He would never take that away unless there was no other choice.

Wendy sighed and leaned a bit on their heads. In the meantime, she and Soos and the mysterious author Dr. Pines would look after the two. But if Wendy knew her boss, and she did despite the secrets he had kept, then it wouldn't be long before he was back on his feet and swinging, heart attack or not.

She looked up at the sound of footsteps. Soos smiled down at her and the twins, and Wendy felt reassured by how calm he was.

"You dudes want to come see him?" Soos thumbed behind him towards where Stan was.

Dipper and Mabel scrambled out of her arms and rushed out.

"He's still asleep though." Soos called after them, but let them run ahead towards where Ford could be seen outside of one of the rooms.

Wendy got up at a more sedate pace and came up alongside the handyman. "How bad is it?" She asked lowly, even though the twins were far enough ahead to not hear them.

Soos was quiet for a moment. "Probably as bad as that time a couple years ago." His mouth was turned down into a frown and Wendy could feel the mood going down with it.

"Dang." She said under her breath. She didn't want to remember hearing about what had happened that first winter after she had started working at the Shack.

Stan would get better though. It may seem bad now, but he would get better just like he had then.

He had to.

* * *

 _AN: Admittedly, we have not had a severe heart scare in my family. However, my mom did have cancer (twice, though the second time didn't end well) so I figured that the scared feelings of that time would be remarkably similar. Also, in my research on heart attacks, I found that teens tend to blame themselves when this sort of thing happens._

 _Plus, this is not the first serious health scare Stan's had, though none of the other Pines know it._

 _In other news, it's my first time writing Wendy's POV but I think it went well._


	5. Chapter 5

Stan woke up to the smell of chemically cleanliness. _Oh, good, so they got me to a hospital_. Opening his eyes confirmed this as he squinted up at the ceiling of a room that was way too white and bright. Tentatively, he reached out hoping his glasses were somewhere on the bedside table he knew would be there.

"Well, welcome back to the land of the living, Mr. Pines." The familiar snide snicker just barely reached his ears, revealing another problem.

"Doc, if you want to talk, either someone's going to have to give me my hearing aid or you're going to have to come over to my right side." He guessed that he should be grateful he was allowed to keep his teeth in at least. Stan kept feeling around for his glasses until a red and tan blob to his right ( _Ford_ , his brain surmised) held something out to him.

"You have a hearing aid?" Ford asked as he came into focus.

"Yep." Stan left it at that as he turned to his left. Dr. Strange held out his hearing aid to him, and he quickly picked it up and popped it back in where it belonged. "So what's up, Doc?"

"Haha." She said dryly. "You say that every time and it's never funny."

"You know you love me." He shot her a grin and took just an extra bit of pleasure in Ford's befuddled look at their exchange. He was a bit surprised his brother was there in the first place instead of locked up in the basement like usual.

Then again, given the fact Stan's always hated doctors and hospitals, even before having to attempt footing the bill himself, it might seem a bit strange to be on such good terms with a doctor.

This wasn't your usual doctor though. This was Gravity Fall's doctor.

Dr. Strange rolled her eyes. "Well, anyway, you had a heart attack, Mr. Pines."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that."

"Personally, I'm shocked you recognized the symptoms." She glanced down at her clipboard.

"With the way you've been harping for years that I was gonna give myself a heart attack? Of course, I'd recognize them." Stan didn't add that he had looked up what the signs were so he could better fake one in an emergency.

"You knew this was going to happen?" Ford rounded on the doctor, eyes narrowed. He almost seemed to be accusing her of causing this with that look.

The air she had around her as she responded was almost bored in comparison. "A person is more likely to have a heart attack if they're constantly under stress. Despite your brother's lackadaisical nature – "

"Lackadaisical?" Stan wrinkled his nose at the term.

Strange continued without even pausing for him, " – Mr. Pines is one of the most stressed out people I've ever met."

"I am not stressed out."

"Your medical records say otherwise."

Stan sighed, knowing that it was useless to argue with her about this stuff. "So what was the cause? Do I have some sort of block in my arteries?"

"Nope." She consulted her clipboard. "The cause was a severe spasm in your coronary artery that nearly stopped the blood flow. No clue why that happened."

Stan nodded but Ford didn't take it as easily. "What do you mean you don't know why it happened?" He sounded really indignant considering it wasn't him that had a heart attack.

Strange leveled her gaze at him. "Sometimes these spasms happen. No one is really sure why. It could be induced by stress or just be a random happening, but there is no real way to tell."

"Then maybe you should do research until you do." Ford crossed his arms and glared at her.

Stan suppressed the way he wanted to cackle at this confrontation. This was going to be good.

Dr. Strange's eyes narrowed as she lifted an eyebrow. "Which of us is the doctor here?"

"I am a doctor. I have 12 PhD's." Ford protested.

"Really?" Her tone was almost sweet, and Stan knew that was a sign she was mad. "And does one of those 12 PhD's happen to be a MD?"

Ford faltered, obviously not expecting that question. "Well, no, but – "

"No? Then how about we rely on _my_ expertise when it comes to your brother." The doctor shot him down before he could build a coherent defense. "Besides, as a scientist, you should know that sometimes there simply isn't an answer. Things just happen."

Ford's offended face almost made this all worth it. If Dr. Strange never dealt with crap from Stan, she most certainly wasn't going to take it from Ford.

Though maybe part of it was that Stan knew Ford never accepted that sometimes things just happened. Heck, his brother had never accepted that he had six fingers on his hand due to genetic crap. Nope, there had to be some mystical reason for everything. Ford's absolute need to have an answer was what was always getting him into trouble.

Seriously, Ford had been the cause of them getting into trouble as kids just as much as he had.

Still, Stan decided to have pity on his brother. "So if there's no blockage or anything like that then I can go home, right? Good." He began to get up.

"What?! Stanley, you can't – " Ford moved to push him back down.

"Hold it, mister." Dr. Strange said at the same time. "You're not going anywhere just yet."

"I feel fine." Stan whined. He really did feel fine; he just wanted to get out of here ASAP.

"Mr. Pines." Stan knew by that tone of voice he had to listen, so he turned to the doctor. He hadn't seen her so serious in the last couple of years. "You had a heart attack. Regardless of the lack of blockage or how you feel, that means that there is damage _to your heart_. So you are not leaving here until at least tomorrow."

"Fine." Stan grumbled, crossing his arms and already plotting how he would escape the moment the doctor and his brother were out of the room.

"And then you are going to have to rest for at least two weeks. Which means _no working_." She emphasized the last two words.

"What?" Stan shouted, making Ford jump a tiny bit at the sudden volume increase. He gestured wildly to make his point. "You can't expect me to close the Shack for two weeks! I've had to close it enough already this summer!"

Seriously, all the repairs he'd had to make already this summer had to be paid for somehow. And that skunk Gideon's schemes really hadn't helped.

"Maybe it doesn't have to close." Ford said. "Mabel and Dipper said you wouldn't want it to close, so they're running it with your employees today. They could simply continue to do that." His brow furrowed a bit. "They actually said they'd done it before."

Stan sighed. "Well, I guess they learned their lesson last time and won't try to show off actual supernatural stuff. I don't want a gremloblin in the house again." Ford's answer had killed two birds with one stone. Since he had awoken, he had hoped that Soos and Wendy were looking after the kids, preferably back home, but with Ford's bouts of absentminded professor-ness, he hadn't been sure.

"What?!" Both of Ford's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Stan ignored Ford's alarmed reaction at his words.

Strange ignored both of them and took that as a sign to continue. "You'll also need to make some lifestyle changes." Stan huffed at that and crossed his arms, but let her talk. She peered up at him from her clipboard. "You're going to have to quit smoking."

"Already done." Stan grunted. "Wendy and Soos made me quit when it was confirmed that the kids were coming for summer." The only tobacco he had in the house was in his cigars, but he hadn't touched those all summer. Not that he hadn't been tempted.

She actually smiled at that. "And you'll also have to get some exercise."

"I thought you just told me to rest. And I get plenty of exercise." Stan protested.

"We've talked about this before. How about exercise that doesn't involve running or fighting the many things that live in these woods? And yes, you will need rest too." The doctor narrowed her eyes at him. "You have been getting enough sleep, right?"

"I've been getting more than I usually do lately." He artfully dodged the question. Considering that over the past 30 years he usually would get about 3 hours of sleep at night and sporadic naps during the day, it wasn't saying much.

"Yeah, that's not reassuring coming from you." She didn't know the specifics, but Stan knew she had guessed as much.

He sighed again. He just wanted to get this over with so the other two would leave and let him escape. "Anything else?" He knew he sounded like someone Dipper and Mabel's age but he didn't care.

"Eat more healthily." Dr. Strange bluntly said.

"I eat food; what more do you want?" Stan couldn't help but ask.

"When you brought in your nephew last time, Miss Pines told me about how she hoped you all could have ice cream for breakfast tomorrow. Ice cream isn't really a breakfast food, Mr. Pines." She rolled her eyes.

"It is if I choose to eat it then. Besides, it's got good stuff like milk and plenty of sugar."

"Sugar isn't good for you, Stanley." Ford finally cut in.

"First off, try telling that to Mabel, not me. She's the one who actually has teeth to lose." Stan turned to him. "Second, I may not be a specialist in all things nerd, but even I know that sugar is one of the main things we get energy from in order to do stuff. Therefore, it can be good for you."

Both of them blinked at him in surprise. Hey, he knew stuff too sometimes.

"It's more of an issue of the type of sugar, but we can debate that later. There's still one more thing." The doctor recovered first, sliding Stan's medical records out from the little bin at the end of his bed. "But you'll have to leave first," she said as she turned towards Ford.

His face scrunched in confusion. "What? Why?"

"Doctor-patient confidentiality." She thumbed through the chart until getting to the spot she wanted, obviously expecting Ford to comply.

 _To be fair, she doesn't really know my brother all that well._ Stan thought sympathetically.

"But I'm his brother. I should be allowed to stay." Ford made no signs of moving from his seat.

"This is a private matter." Strange's voice went hard. "And technically, seeing as you are not your brother's emergency medical contact, you wouldn't have much say anyway." She glared at him, and Stan realized it was actually interesting to see the effects of her glare when you weren't the one being subjected to them.

Ford flinched a little at the look in her eye, but with a scowl, he finally did as he was asked.

As Stan realized what she wanted to talk about though, he suddenly wished his brother was back just so he wouldn't have to talk about it.

He strategically avoided her gaze as the door shut behind Ford.

Dr. Strange let him have a moment before she sighed. Stan glanced up to see her set down his records and rub her forehead. She looked tired. "Stan," she said, and he sighed again as he knew where this was going as she switched to his first name, "how long has it been since you took your medicine?"

Stan looked away again.

"I've talked about this for almost 25 years, especially as we've both gotten older." Her voice was gentle. "Stress increases the possibility of heart attacks. I wasn't kidding when I said you are one of the most stressed out people I know, doing whatever it is you do besides working at the Shack. And well… depression, if not being treated, increases stress." She looked down at the paperwork. "By my calculations, you've probably been off of them since about a week before gravity decided to quit doing its job."

"I thought I wouldn't need them anymore." He muttered, and he finally looked at her.

She sent a significant look towards the door at what he said.

 _Smart woman_. Stan acknowledged. She always seemed to know more than she really should.

"Even if things had gone the way you wanted them to," she turned her gaze to him and away from the door, "we both know it doesn't work like that."

Stan knew that. He had been kicked enough times in the teeth by life to know that.

"You're going to have to be put on a couple medications for this heart attack anyway, so I'll just put in to get your prescription renewed." Strange made a mark on his chart before putting it back in its spot. She stood up and made to leave. She paused at the door though and turned to him, eyes narrowed. "If you're not here when I get back, you _will_ be in trouble."

Without another word, she left.

Stan waited a beat or two before getting up. He really was feeling better, so all he had to do was see if his clothes were anywhere around and turn off these monitors. If they weren't he wasn't too bothered, after all if he was fine with going to the store in his robe then –

"Ah, Mr. Ramirez, good thing you're here. Please stop Mr. Pines from escaping." Dr. Strange's voice trickled through the door.

"You got it, Doctor!" Soos said enthusiastically as he yanked open the door and discovered Stan halfway out the window. "Sorry, Mr. Pines."

Stan grumbled as Soos lead him back to the bed.

He'd just have to escape later.

* * *

 _AN: God, I love Vera Strange. She takes no crap from anyone. Heck, even the Society of the Blind Eye agreed to leave her alone when it came to knowing what was going on because they did not want to mess with her._

 _Also, yeah, I think Stan probably has a history with depression and has to be treated for it. He was hoping with Ford back that he wouldn't need them but he actually does. It is true that untreated depression can cause stress on the heart and lead to a heart attack. However, this wasn't really the case here as it was a freaky thing (which can legit happen). This is just a potential cause that the doctor took notice of._

 _Oh, FYI, in case I didn't mention it in the fic, Soos is Stan's emergency contact._


	6. Chapter 6

Dipper felt like his fingers were being crushed as Mabel clutched his hand. Just from looking at her face you wouldn't think she was upset or anything, what with a bright smile plastered on, but her grip gave it away.

Then again, he could tell how his sister felt just by looking at her face. It was a twin brother privilege.

The two of them walked down the corridor to Stan's room. Soos had dropped by during lunch and he had informed them when he got back that their great uncle was up and grumpier than ever. It had been an honest relief.

Sure, they had visited yesterday after the doctor had given them permission, but…

It had just been weird.

He and Mabel were used to seeing Stan falling asleep in his chair or sprawling out in his bed, but somehow it had been wrong to see him in a hospital bed. Stan complained all the time about the aches and pains of getting old, but he had never gotten hurt bad enough that he had actually had to visit the hospital. He definitely had never been silent and asleep on a hospital bed, because he had a _freaking heart attack_.

So yeah, it had bugged Dipper.

Mabel had tried to brush it off too, climbing up beside the bed to babble in Stan's ear about how he was going to get better and not to worry about the Shack because Boss Mabel was on the case. When they had left, she had seemed fine to almost everyone as she smiled.

Then, when they went to bed, she had silently climbed into his bed with him and whispered, "It's going to be okay, right?" With the light coming from the window, he had been able to see the tears in her eyes.

"Of course." He had told her and pulled her into a hug, but…

Dipper really wasn't sure.

Technically, he still wasn't sure. Heart attacks were serious and for Grunkle Stan to have one… and who knew how he would be today…

He pushed his worries to the side. He had to be strong for Mabel.

"This is a children's show, Stanley." He perked up at the sound of Ford's voice. It was obvious that he was talking to Stan, so that meant he had to still be awake.

"Who cares if it's created with kids as the main audience? Art is for everyone!" The gravelly voice that responded brought a smile to Dipper's face and made the one on Mabel's face become a bit more genuine. They shared an excited glance and hurried closer to the room.

"This isn't art."

"Of course, it's art. Film counts as an artistic medium." Stan protested right as they opened the door.

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel beamed as she rushed into the room, only slowing down as she remembered why they all were there. She skidded to a stop right next to Stan's bed.

Stan looked over at the call of his name though. "Kids!" He grinned, obviously happy to get out of an argument with his brother. He waved both of them to come closer.

Dipper followed his sister at a bit slower pace. He was glad to see his grunkle up and about, and apparently back to normal, but there was still something about the image that seemed off. He frowned as he finally spotted what was wrong. "Is that a seatbelt?" He pointed at the strap that was seemingly holding the conman in place.

"Oh." Stan looked down at it with a disgruntled expression. "Soos rigged it up."

"You know, I did have a very tiny hope that your doctor had been kidding when she said you always tried to escape." Ford muttered. He didn't look very happy to be here, glaring up at the TV.

"The Doc doesn't really joke much." Stan rolled his eyes before turning to the younger twins. He frowned. "Mabel, is something wrong?"

Dipper wasn't surprised that Stan had picked up that something was wrong. After all, normally Mabel would have been up on the bed already, bobbing up and down in excitement as she told Stan all about her day at a mile a minute. Instead she was still standing at the bedside, fidgeting with the blanket.

"Well…" She started, glancing back and forth.

Stan somehow figured it out though. His face turned gentle and he held out his arms. "Come here, pumpkin." He said as he scooped up Mabel and settled her at his side. Dipper scuffed his shoe on the floor and looked away, because this sort of comforting was more their thing, but a voice stopped him. "You too, tough guy." He turned back to see Stan beckoning him up. "Get up here."

Dipper had to be strong. After all, Mabel was scared, Ford was upset at the turn of events, and even both Soos and Wendy, the most chill people he knew, were tense. So he was the one that had to keep things going.

But at Stan's invitation, he took it in a heartbeat. He scrambled up to sit on Stan's other side.

Their grunkle ruffled Mabel's hair and knocked back the brim of Dipper's hat. "Look, I'm fine." He said. "I'll be able to go home tomorrow morning. Sorry for scaring you two."

"So you're not mad at us?" Mabel quietly asked, burrowing her face into Stan's side.

Stan's face pinched with confusion. "Why on Earth would I be mad at you?"

"Because it's our fault, you're here." Dipper finished for her, unable to look his grunkle in the eye.

Both Stan and Ford blinked in confusion. "What?" They asked simultaneously, sharing a look.

Stan caught on first. "Oh, no, no, no." He pulled the niblings closer. "My heart attack was not your fault. The Doc even said so. It was a totally random and unpredictable spasm thingy. Totally not in any way your guys' fault."

"But you – " Dipper began to protest.

"But nothing." Stan sternly said. "It wasn't caused by anything you did or anything I did for you. Totally random. So stop beating yourselves up, okay?"

"Okay." The younger twins mumbled, but both of them hid their smiles. Dipper knew that he at least felt a lot lighter due to their grunkle's reassurances.

"Good. Now watch Ducktective with me and tell me how things went at the Shack. It looks like you guys and Soos are going to be running it for a while."

With that, Mabel launched into how things had gone and Dipper settled in to watch one of his favorite shows. A deep sense of contentment fell over him.

He was so content that he didn't notice Ford slipping away.

* * *

Stan narrowed his eyes as his brother slipped out of the room. To anyone else, it might seem like he just wanted to give him and the twins some time to bond.

Stan knew better.

He wondered if Ford really thought that he hadn't noticed him snitching his medical files as he walked past. It really is hard to fool a professional conman and thief after all.

Stan really preferred it if his brother didn't read those files. If he had his way, he would have burned the thing before Ford could ever get his mitts on it.

Still, if Ford wanted to risk the wrath of Dr. Vera Strange, after she explicitly told him to leave his records alone, that was his brother's problem.

Not like he could really leave the niblings here anyway.

So Stan sat back and listened to Mabel and held both of them close. This was way more important anyway.

* * *

 _AN: Ford thinks he's so clever, but when it comes to stealing he really isn't. That's Stan's area of expertise._

 _Also, seeing a relative in the hospital is really surreal, especially if it's someone you're really close to. I hope I'm conveying that feeling._


	7. Chapter 7

Ford smirked as he walked away from his brother's room. He had managed to snatch his brother's medical records just as he was leaving and no one had even noticed.

He had been trying to look at them ever since Stan had awoken and the doctor had made it clear that it wasn't his place to look at him. So what if Soos was Stan's emergency contact, Stan was _his_ brother and he had every right to see what was going on with him. He had no clue if the doctor was even telling him the truth about not knowing what had caused the heart attack since he had been so rudely shoved him out.

His brother was hiding something and he didn't like it.

Ford paused outside of the hospital's small chapel. He paused and gave it a thought before going in. It certainly wasn't for his religion, which he couldn't even remember the last time he had practiced, but no one would probably barge in or think to look for him here.

He settled in one of the small pews and pulled out the records from his coat. He flipped to the most recent pages. He scowled as it basically said everything Strange had told them –

Ford blinked. Under the medications, right next to the ones she had mentioned he'd need for his heart attack, there was one he didn't recognize. He frowned at it as he hadn't even heard it mentioned.

What was citalopram?

For a moment, he felt a bit of panic. After all, what if this doctor was slipping some experimental drug to his brother? Then he noticed the notation next to it.

 _It's a renewal?_

Continuing to frown, Ford began to flip back through the pages to see how long Stan had been taking this medicine, and hopefully find what it was treating. Absently, he noticed different injuries as he went on: strained muscles, pulled muscles, putting out his back (apparently at least twice if the notation was right; then again Ford was going back in time with the records), scratches from something. Then he caught a word that made him pause and the blood drain from his face.

A couple of years ago, Stan had had a stroke.

That was as serious as a heart attack, and his brother had been even younger than they were now.

It was then that it fully hit Ford that everything he had seen in his brother's file so far had all taken place within the last few years. Though surprisingly it seemed this was one of the few times Stan had had to visit this summer since the kids arrived.

Ford adjusted his glasses and looked at the incident more closely.

Apparently, Soos tended to check up on Stan during the winter even though there usually weren't many tourists. One day, he arrived to see that Stan was unconscious and unresponsive. He called an ambulance and it had turned out that he had suffered from a stroke. It was because of this stroke that Stan lost most of his hearing in his left ear, requiring him to wear his hearing aide.

"Huh." To Ford, it looked like the treatment was actually similar to what Stan was going to have to do now. And from the sound of it, Stan hadn't really been doing that in the meantime , as it had probably contributed to his current state.

More curious now than anything else, Ford flipped back further. His brow furrowed more and more as he saw the injuries and illnesses really started to pile up. He couldn't believe his brother had taken such poor care of himself over the years.

He paused a few moments as he came across the burn and infection Strange had mentioned, the one he had caused. He moved past it quickly enough after though.

While flipping through, Ford had taken note of the medicine that had started his search through the files. Apparently it had gone through various different kinds of medicine; notes were made each time one was replaced to serve the same purpose. He continued to follow it though.

Eventually, he found the source. It was records from a prison psychologist. _What could have…_

A tight grip fell on his shoulder, making him jump. A deep sense of foreboding fell over Ford as he slowly looked up…

Right into the furious face of Dr. Strange.

It was an odd kind of fury, some sort of mix of the disappointment and disapproval of a mother and the rage of a doctor seeing their patient threatened. Whatever it was, it was giving Ford the willies.

Considering where he'd been over the last 30 years, that was a pretty hard feat.

"Enjoying a good read?" Strange asked with a restrained smile.

"Uh…" Before Ford could formulate a proper response, the medical records were yanked out of his hands. "Hey!"

"You know, if I didn't realize it would only take a second for you to escape Blubs and Durland's custody, I could charge you for such a gross invasion of patient privacy." She snapped the files closed with a flick of her wrist.

"Well, you won't tell me anything!" Ford protested.

"Really? That does not explain why you were looking at records from well over 30 years ago…" Her judgmental stare weighed heavily on him, making him flinch again. "If you want to know any more than you've been told, which is basically everything pertaining to the current situation, you should talk to your brother."

Ford snorted, "As if Stanley would give permission for me to look at his records."

"Gee, I wonder why he wouldn't… You seem like such a caring and compassionate brother. I mean, rather than asking permission to look into his private affairs, you immediately steal his records and sneak off." She ignored his indignant squawk with a roll of her eyes. "Seriously though," her tone turning serious, "you should talk to him."

Ford looked away. Strange seemed to be implying that they should talk about more than just Stan's medical history. She was wrong though.

There was nothing he needed to discuss with his brother.

She sighed as if sensing this wasn't going anywhere. "In any case," she said, "visiting hours are almost over and I believe Mr. Ramirez is here to take you and the children home." She waited as he got up and left the chapel before her. "And Dr. Pines," he stopped for a moment, "just consider that maybe you don't want to know what your brother's been through."

Ford glanced back at her. "Why wouldn't I?" He couldn't really think of why he wouldn't.

Her eyes were cold as she stared back at him. "Because from what I can tell, you didn't care enough to know before." With that, Dr. Strange walked towards where he assumed her office was located.

Ford pondered over her words as he collected the kids, while waving goodbye to his brother distractedly, and braced himself through Soos's driving.

It was only as he was putting the kids to bed, at Stan's request, that he realized that he had an untapped source of information. "Kids," Ford asked as he tucked Mabel under her blanket, "do you know about any pills Stanley might be taking?"

"Y'mean besides his happy pills?" Mabel answered cheerfully enough.

"His what?" Ford had never heard of such a thing.

"She means his antidepressants." Dipper rolled his eyes. "He also sometimes takes a pain reliever if his aches are too bad, but those are all stuff you can pick up in the pharmacy aisle." He frowned. "Why do you want to know?"

Ford noted that both Dipper and Mabel were acting like their normal selves for this entire conversation. They actually seemed really nonchalant about the whole antidepressant thing, despite the fact that just the word alarmed him. After all, why would his brother need such a thing? "Nothing," he said, "I just saw he was getting a prescription renewal, and wondered what he might be getting."

"Okay." That seemed to be enough of an explanation for them and they doubled down for the night.

"Good night, Dipper, Mabel." Ford turned off the light and left the room.

As he returned to the ground floor, he thought over what he had learned and the few clues he had gained through his short perusal of his brother's records. It all added up to one thing.

Apparently, Ford did not know his brother as well as he thought he did.

He might have to actually talk to him.

* * *

 _AN: Citalopram is one of the most commonly prescribed anti-depressants. I spent over an hour looking up different medications to try to determine which one Stan would most likely have. Also, the incident that Soos and Wendy kept alluding to earlier was the stroke he had a few years ago. While researching strokes and their treatment, I learned that they're basically heart attacks for the brain and the treatments are really similar._

 _Now, before I get hate about how Ford totally does care, I already know that. Heck, Ford just stole Stan's records because he was worried about him (and because he's nosy but that's beside the point). I originally had this idea when Ford was still being a butthead though and we all thought it would take something extremely bad for him to pull himself out (which is true)._

 _Plus, it is true that Ford really didn't pay much mind to what his brother had been doing during the 10 year gap. This is pretty much shown in the journal where he would cross out mentions of when his brother crossed his mind (when they were positive) and the only clear things he wrote about his bro-bro before Weirdmaggedon tended to be negative. He cares but he was still hanging onto those petty grudges. Plus, Pines men in their generation didn't talk about anything (hence why they had so many problems)._

 _So like I said, Ford cares, he's always cared, but he has tended to act like a doodoo head and denied it down to his very soul._


	8. Chapter 8

When Ford woke up in the morning, Stan was making breakfast in the kitchen.

For a moment, he just stared at his brother. "Wha…" Finally, words leaked out.

Stan looked up. "Hey, Sixer." He turned back to the stove and flipped another Stancake.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" Ford stammered out. It was too early for him to have been allowed out of the hospital.

"Making breakfast. What's it look like?" Stan threw him an incredulous look.

"But you're supposed to be in the hospital." He hissed, grabbing at his hair.

"I was going to be released later anyway. And hospital security is terrible in the early hours of the morning." Stan shrugged. "Don't worry; I'll let the kids handle the tours and Shack, so technically I'm gonna be resting."

"Why are you cooking breakfast?" Ford gestured, because while he could understand that his brother had escaped from the hospital, it didn't make sense for him to be cooking as soon as he gained his freedom.

"Because people will be hungry and unless your cooking skills have vastly improved since the last time I got a good look at them," Stan sent him a significant look, "it's probably better for everyone that I cook. I know Abuelita sent over supper for the last two nights, but I'd prefer not to rely on her for decent, non-glittery food."

Ford tried to ignore the ways his cheeks began to flush. His skills when it came to cooking, though slightly better than when they were teenagers and he managed to melt through a frying pan, were still not stellar. In that regard, maybe it would be better that Stan cooked.

Still…

"You're supposed to eat _healthy_ food." Ford crossed his arms as he reminded him.

"Well, there currently aren't many things in the fridge that would meet your and the doctor's standards of healthy I think. Stancakes will do until I can send Soos to the store." Stan poured the last of the batter into the pan after slipping the freshly made Stancakes onto a heaping plate next to him.

"But you have to follow the doctor's orders this time, Stanley!" Ford snapped. "It's clear you didn't after you had a stroke, and that probably put you at risk for this! You clearly have no idea how to take care of yourself, so just – " Ford cut himself off as he realized what he had said.

He wasn't supposed to know that Stan had had a stroke. He wasn't supposed to know that his brother had apparently torn himself to pieces over the years they'd been apart, leading his brother to need a hearing aid and dentures. He wasn't supposed to know what was in his brother's medical records.

In his justified anger, he'd revealed that he had looked through them.

Ford braced himself for an angry tirade. Back in the day, he and Stan had rules about looking through each other's stuff. And now he realized that Strange had been right in her anger over him stealing the files. He'd broken the Twin Code.

However, all Stan did was sigh and check on the food. "I knew I should have burned those files the moment you got back."

Ford blinked.

This was… unexpected.

"What?"

"And did you really think I didn't notice you taking my records back there?" Stan rolled his eyes before glancing over. "It's pretty hard to steal from a thief. Gideon only succeeded that one time because that thing was keeping me asleep while he set the charges."

"Uh…" Ford wasn't quite sure what to make of this information. Stan noticing wasn't surprising, but the follow-up information was. He did recall mentions of this Gideon fellow stealing the Shack in his journal, but he had no clue what else Stan meant.

"Not surprised though. Always did feel a need to stick your nose where it doesn't belong when you don't know something." Stan continued as he flipped the Stancakes over.

Well, Ford found he couldn't argue against that. It was how he got into that entire mess with Bill in the first place thirty years ago.

Still…

"Stan," Ford said hesitantly, "we need to talk."

Stan sighed again. "I know." He took the last of the Stancakes off the heat. "Kids!" He bellowed, making Ford jump at the sudden change in volume, "Breakfast."

Within seconds, Ford heard the muffled sounds of Dipper and Mabel running down the stairs. He turned to Stan, because he had thought things were going differently.

"Later." Stan firmly said as he carried the Stancakes over to the already set table.

Ford opened his mouth to protest when Mabel and Dipper burst into the room.

"Grunkle Stan!" The two of them yelled as they raced to embrace their grunkle.

"You're home!" Mabel yelled.

Stan smiled as he hugged them back and ruffled their hair. "Sure am, pumpkin."

"Wait, is it okay that you left already?" Dipper worriedly asked as he drew back.

"If I was still there by the time Doc got in there this morning, I'm pretty sure she'd have been disappointed." Stan said, straightening up. "Now who wants Stancakes?"

As the younger twins cheered, Ford couldn't help but wonder if Stan's timing had just been a delaying tactic. Still, with the two there, Ford couldn't help but agree with him.

They'd talk later.

* * *

Stan hated talking about stuff. Their father had always made it clear that real men did not talk about things. However, it was a lack of communication that had always caused problems between them. How many times had he seen Dipper and Mabel work out their issues through talking and felt a slight sting of jealousy?

That did not mean he didn't want to delay it for as long as possible.

Old habits die hard.

And all it really made him do was wish that he had broken into Dr. Strange's office during those first couple days and burned the darned files. He had really debated it; after all, it wouldn't do for his brother to see how much of a screw-up he was. Plus, erasing his medical history would open up a few other… avenues for him to pursue once the summer was over.

Upon thinking this, Stan realized that Strange really had a point about renewing his prescription.

Still, Stan managed to hold off on talking to Ford until the Shack had opened, guaranteeing that the kids along with Wendy and Soos would not be bothering them. Though he would have preferred to have the talk in a more private place, the kids had insisted on him resting in his armchair so he had the TV available to him and could easily be assisted if he needed something.

Stan was flipping through channels when Ford walked into the room.

The elder of the two frowned at the television. "Stanley." Ford chided as Stan finally settled on some boxing re-runs. "We need to – "

"With this on, it'll be harder for the kids to hear what we're talking about." Stan pointed out, putting the remote on the skull next to him.

"Ah." Ford blinked in realization. "Yes, that is a good idea."

"You admitted that I had a good idea." Stan sarcastically said. "Really wish I'd recorded that."

Ford pursed his lips at that, and Stan took a tiny bit of pleasure at aggravating his brother. He knew he was being difficult, but if it put things off just a bit longer…

Stan watched as his brother drew in a huge breath and slowly let it out. "So," Ford finally said when he calmed down, "I'll admit that I read through your medical records."

"I think we already established that." Stan drawled, sitting back in his chair. Noting the way that Ford was fidgeting with his smallest fingers, a habit from when they were younger, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. "If you've got questions, just spit them out, Poindexter."

"Well," Ford hesitated, "you've had a stroke before."

"Yeah, it really sucked. I take it that's not what's bothering you the most." Stan studied his brother, knowing he'd hit the nail on the head. Ford's normal attitude of firing a million questions per minute was surprisingly absent. Stan sighed. "How far back did you even get?"

Ford couldn't look him in the eye. "I noticed a prescription I didn't recognize, and though the pill has changed over the years, it seemed to originate in a prison psychology report."

"Ah…" Stan rubbed at his head, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Did you read it?"

"No." Ford said and Stan was the one blinking at him now. "Your doctor showed up right then," he explained.

Stan chuckled. "She always has had great timing."

"So what…" Ford stood there awkwardly, unable to finish his question, but Stan got the gist of it.

"Actually, sit down, Ford, you look awkward like that." Stan removed the remote from on top of the skull and patted it. Having to look up at his brother was giving him a crick in the neck and he had a feeling that Ford was going to want to sit down through the rest of this conversation.

"Right." Ford perched himself on the skull with a look of distaste. Clearly, he was still not happy how Stan had converted some of his science stuff.

"Okay. So before anything else, you should know that anything you read in my file is just stuff that I actually got caught with. As in, one way or another I got dragged to hospital."

"There's more?!" Ford looked aghast.

"Well, yeah. I wasn't going to pay some quack for every little thing. It's just sometimes I wouldn't be given much of a choice." Stan shrugged. "Anyway, so onto the prison report, I got caught doing something and they set the shrinks on me. They gave me treatment which I really don't want to get into, but when I left they started me on meds. I've been on and off of similar stuff ever since."

Ford was just staring at him. Stan knew he had gone through that a bit quickly but he really didn't want to get into all that much. He really preferred to not think about that time of his life. Especially since that was the first time he'd been caught doing… that by authorities. It wasn't the first time he'd attempted it, but at least the people who'd caught him doing it wouldn't send him to the loony bin like the shrink did.

As Stan watched Ford's face turned thoughtful. He was clearly filing the new information away into his nerd system.

"Why didn't you mention it to me?" Ford asked.

Stan startled a bit, not expecting the question. "Uh, what do you mean?"

"Well, I asked the children about any medications you were taking, and they clearly were aware of you taking them. However, you made no signs of mentioning it to me." Ford's brow was furrowed as he collected his thoughts.

"Oh." Stan really didn't want to explain why he hadn't, so he went with the simplified version. "The kids noticed me taking them, and it's quite common nowadays anyway. I didn't see the point in bothering you though."

"What?" Ford asked. "Why would knowing about this be bothering me?"

"Uh, it's not your problem." Stan thought it was kind of obvious.

"How can it not be? You're my brother!" Ford gave him an indignant look.

Stan threw him the most skeptical look in his arsenal. After all, even Ford should have enough self-awareness to know that he certainly hadn't acted like it. Heck, their conversation when he got back was enough evidence for that.

Ford winced in response. "All right, maybe that wasn't the best way to put it." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Really?" Stan rolled his eyes. "In any case, since I'm leaving at the end of summer, it's not like it would be your problem for long anyway."

"What? You're leaving at the end of summer?" Ford asked.

Stan stared at him. "You're the one who asked me to leave, Ford."

"No, I didn't."

"You told me I could stay until the end of summer to take care of the kids. That implies that I'm supposed to leave then." Stan pointed out.

"Ah – but – I – " Ford spluttered. "That's not what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean?" He crossed his arms.

"I just – " Ford groaned, running his hand down his face. "I was angry then."

"And you're not now?"

"No. But you don't know the circumstances I was in!" Ford protested.

"Then tell me." Stan said, stopping Ford in his tracks. "For once, actually explain what's going on with you. You wanted to talk, so talk. I've done my bit." Admittedly, Stan hadn't done that very well, giving only the most basic and vaguest of information, but he'd still done it.

Ford hesitated, and Stan couldn't blame him. After all, if anything, Ford was even worse about talking about things than he was. But then, he actually relented.

Stan knew he still wasn't being told everything, but finding out that he had interrupted his brother in the middle of some sort of _Planet Wars_ -esque final battle helped understand his ire when he had brought him back. He wondered who he'd been fighting, because Ford was extremely cagey about it.

After that, they were both talked out for a while and by silent mutual agreement, they decided to just watch TV. Mabel was thrilled when she found them at lunch time. Her piercing shriek jolted both of them out of their relaxed state though.

It was a start, Stan would admit. It wasn't much of one, but it was a start.

If this heart attack helped repair his relationship with his brother even a little bit though, it was totally worth it.

It was still worth it when Dr. Strange dropped by later to give him a scolding, but that was a different story.

* * *

 _AN: So that's it for Heart Beats. FYI,_ Planet Wars _was what I called this universe's version of Star Wars since all evidence of this place seems to have similar sounding but different franchise names. Then of course back in Stanuary, I decided that_ Star Wars _is multi-universal and they'd have that in this universe. But I don't feel like changing it while posting it here so there you go._

 _I thought about splitting this apart, but eventually decided to go for it all in one shot. The Stans have talked a bit though not everything's fixed. Weirdmaggedon would probably still happen (right about the time Stan would be off his 2 week bedrest if I'm calculating right). And who knows how things would turn out even if they have start communicating._

 _Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it._


End file.
